James Joyce
by Jorge Luis Borges
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In one day of mankind are all the days
of time, from that unimaginable
first day of time, when a formidable
God prearranged the days and agonies,
to that other day when the perpetual
river
of earthly time flows round to its
headwaters,
the Eternal, and is extinguished in the
present,
the future, the past, the passing—what
is now mine.
The story of the world is told from dawn
to darkness. From the depths of night
I’ve seen
at my feet the wanderings of the Jews,
Carthage destroyed, Hell, and Heaven’s
bliss.
Grant me, Lord, the courage and the joy
I need to scale the summit of this day.
—Cambridge, 1968.
Translated by Stephen Kessler.
From Elogio de la Sombra, 1969 (In Praise of Darkness).
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SOURCE: Borges, Jorge Luis. Selected
Poems, edited by Alexander Coleman (New York: Viking, 1999),
English, p. 273; Spanish, 272.
James Joyce
In a man’s single day are all the
days
of time from that unimaginable
first day, when a terrible God marked out
the days and agonies, to that other,
when the ubiquitous flow of earthly
time goes back to its source, Eternity,
and flickers out in the present, the
past,
and the future—what now belongs to
me.
Between dawn and dark lies the history
of the world. From the vault of night I
see
at my feet the wanderings of the Jew,
Carthage put to the sword, Heaven and
Hell.
Grant me, O Lord, the courage and the joy
to ascend to the summit of this day. |
SOURCE: Borges, Jorge Luis.
In Praise
of Darkness (A Bilingual
Edition), translated by Norman Thomas di Giovanni (New York:
E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1974), English, p. 29; Spanish, p. 28.
James Joyce
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En un día del hombre están
los días
del tiempo, desde aquel inconcebible
día inicial del tiempo, en que un
terrible
Dios prefijó los días y
agonías
hasta aquel otro en que el ubicuo río
del tiempo terrenal torne a su fuente,
que es lo Eterno, y se apague en el
presente,
el futuro, el ayer, lo que ahora es mío.
Entre el alba y la noche está la
historia
universal. Desde la noche veo
a mis pies los caminos del hebreo,
Cartago aniquilada, Infierno y Gloria.
Dame, Señor, coraje y alegría
para
escalar la cumbre de este día.
—Cambridge, 1968.
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